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The “ghost prints” of White Sands National Park are among the century's most remarkable archeological discoveries. And new findings strengthen the case that these Chihuahuan Desert footprints are also the oldest evidence of people in the Americas.

Reviving streams means addressing the root causes of their decline. A new initiative aims to do just that by restoring the high grasslands where these desert lifelines begin.

The Big Bend Rio Grande and its tributaries once abounded in fresh-water mussels. But today, a native Big Bend mussel — the Salina mucket — is proposed for endangered species protection. What's driven this species to the brink and how can it be saved?

In paintings and comics, Alpine artist Chris Ruggia has captured West Texas wildlife with care, curiosity and whimsy for two decades. Now, he has a new book inspired by the return of black bears to the Big Bend region.

At sunset tonight, a few thousand Mexican long-nosed bats will fly from a cave high in the Chisos Mountains. They’ll disperse to feast on agave nectar — pollinating the iconic plants in the process. These “agave bats” are deeply imperiled by human impact but for now, they’re holding their own.

Órale, the word this week in Caló is cuerda. In modern Spanish, it means chord, string or line. In Caló, it means a person who’s serious, morally upright, self-assured or uncompromising. A cuerda is opposite of a relaje, a goof-off or an unserious person—we’ve covered this term previously. There are cuerdas in all walks of life, perhaps the same for relajes. Priests, athletes, classmates, and even influencers can be cuerda, The history of this term along the Rio Grande is associated with that of the the colonial rural police during Spanish rule, which was called the cordada after the leather cords, cuerdas, they used to arrest scofflaws and heretics. It was a local all-volunteer irregular posse called together by the upstanding people of the community to enforce local customs, likely more so than the official law. As you can imagine, cuerdas predominated the cordadas. Of course, cordadas—like irregular posses—no longer exist, but the cuerda archetype is still very much present in Caló.

Órale, the next few episodes of Caló will be dedicated to the ritual of the matanza. It’s Spanish for the the killing or slaughter of an animal for its meat. The term and custom is well-known up and down the Rio Grande. Matanzas are celebratory and collective acts associated with important social events, like weddings. They’re led by maestros whose knowledge of the ritual is passed down from generation to generation. Matanzas are celebrated in a wide spectrum of ways. Some communities deliver the coup de grace with a firearm. Others do it with an heirloom knife. In some places, women dominate the ritual. In other places, men do. Some matanzas are completed in a matter of hours, while others take days to run their course. The crowd that gathers also makes a difference in a matanza.

For this episode, Nature Notes is teaming up with “West Texas Wonders” – a new reporting series where listeners ask questions and Marfa Public Radio finds…

The San Solomon Springs at Balmorhea State Park are a treasured desert oasis. The park is one of the most popular destinations in West Texas, visisted by…

Órale, the Caló word of the week is cácaro. It means a person with a pockmarked face. It comes from the Spanish word, cacarizo, an adjective that means pitted or pockmarked. The term, cácaro, has been in Caló since at least the time of smallpox epidemics, which left survivors with lasting pockmarks all over their body. Cácaro is mostly a pejorative that reduces a person to their bad fortune of having an unattractive face. There’s a bitter-sweet tragedy about El Cácaro passed down from generation to generation throughout La Junta that should help the curious know how this term is used in Caló.